Artist Bios

Michael Arterburn - Featured in Colorado Gallery

A native of Colorado, Michael Arterburn's palette knife paintings, pottery, and sculpture reflect his love of the region. Self-taught he has spent over thirty years traveling and painting the Rocky Mountains. The influence of the Rocky Mountain Region is apparent in much of his work. Although wildlife, landscape, and still-life are predominate themes in his paintings, he continually experiments with different subject matter, technique, and media.

Sculpting has provided an additional creative outlet. Bears, deer, elk, and eagles are woven into much of Michael's sculpture along with people, fantasy, and abstract designs. Working mainly with terra-cotta clay, he also sculpts in metal and wood.

Reb Babcock - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Reb has lived in the American west since 1978, moving from Illinois to answer the call of the mountains. His interest in photography began as a hobby in the early 80's. His connection to the earth is vividly illustrated in his photographs, which are bold, dramatic testimonies to the beauty of the landscape and wildlife that inhabit our world. In his images, Reb searches for the fleeting moments where light and unique atmospheric conditions, combined with the landscape create an unforgettable moment in time. Reb Badcock's photography evolved over time, from a hobby to a professional pursuit. He's received awards in both national and local competitions. Reb has been selected as "Master Photographer" with the Mile High Wildlife Photography Club & the 2007 winner of the "Natures Best" Magazine (international competition for camera clubs).

Bill Balhiser - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Bill Balhiser was born & raised in Great Falls, Montana. Following his degree in Physics and Mathematics from Eastern Montana Collage, he began his career in banking. Over the years, he became involved in woodworking & furniture building as a hobby. In 2006, Bill was introduced and mentored in segmented wood turning. His intricate works are inspired by southwest pottery and the work of Ray Allen, an early innovator of segmented turning. Since 2011, Bill's refined techniques have produced his signature style, which is extremely complex, combining his analytical mathematical experience with his artistic creativity resulting in his exquisite segmented wooden creations.

Carl Bandy - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Carl's cast paper sculptures are in private collections in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Europe, Australia and Japan.

His creations are a unique process, starting with pure cotton fibers. The paper pulp is buffered to an acid- free state. Water-proofing compounds, preservatives and light-fast pigments are also used. The paper pulp is carefully hand-cast to create truly archival paper sculptures. When thoroughly dry, each paper cast is inspected. All of Carl's cast creations are signed and most are numbered as part of a very limited edition. Acid-free mats & hardwood frames provide the finishing touch.

Willie Britt - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Growing up in rural areas, award-winning artist, Willie Britt was taught skills of the wilderness & admiration for animals by her grandfather. In her quest for solace and continuity during often chaotic adolescent years, she turned to animals and art. It her early twenties, she received her nickname, Willie, while working on a water-well drilling rig. Mostly self-taught, she believes learning is a life long process.

In experimenting with new mediums, oils are the focus of her newest work; however, pastels remain her favorite. Sculpture, especially bronze, is her first love and she has several pieces in different stages of progress. In addition to bronze and prototype sculpting, she also enjoys sculpting in steel (using a mig-welder and plasma cutter). Some of her prototype sculpture work includes promotional vehicles for Pfizer and Kellogg, created by Prototype Source of Santa Barbara, California (the makers of the Oscar-Mayer Weiner-mobile). Her other work has been collected by people around the world and can be found in England, Australia, France, Canada and the United States.

Dixie Clare - Featured in CO Gallery

A native to Colorado, Dixie Clare is a multi-talented artist and highly sought-after residential and commercial muralist. In 2003, Dixie created an ornament for the Governor's holiday tree as a personal request from First Lady Frances Owens. With continued success, Dixie Clare was commissioned by Teller County to create the "Proclamation" in calligraphy that named and honored the sheriff's department as "heroes" in the safe capture of the "Texas Seven." In 2007, Dixie Clare was awarded the "People's Choice Award" for the Sangrias Art Guild Calendar competition for her pencil drawing, "Touched by an Angel."

Her drawings and paintings have been featured in such places as the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center (Texas), Beef Empire Days (Kansas) and the Arizona National Stock Show Cowboy Classics. She displays her work at the Cowboy Christmas Gift Show during the National Rodeo Finals (Las Vegas, NV).

Anita Dewitt - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

Anita Dewitt, a multimedia artist, has honed her finest skills in hand rendered pencil portraitures and hand-sculpted pottery. She finds inspiration for her originality, muses and work from people in the midst of personal and intense transitions in their life. In these transitions, Anita Dewitt captures every detail in their most vulnerable state of humanity, their strength and perseverance, and unwillingness to succumb to failure. Due in part to her art subjects, she challenges herself with conspiring eclectic ideas, distinct patterns, unorthodox materials & unusual sizes.

Anita Dewitt received her Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts and a Minor in Psychology from Colorado State University. In February 2009, she won 1st Place in the Sculptural Division for the Salute to Southern Colorado Artists. In May of 2009, she was awarded, "Best of Show," at the 62nd Annual Blossom Exhibit held at Fremont Center for the Arts.

Barry A. Dolan - Featured in Colorado Gallery

As an Architectural Artist, Barry combines texture & color using wood, glass, and metals to create original architectural designs, such as stained glass doors and windows, furniture, lighting, and sculptures. His organization of the elements in his compositions, demonstrate an emphasis on originality and the abstraction of conventionality. For over 30 years, his works reveal a continuity and sensibility of simplicity, functionality and beauty in all of his Art. His art gallery pieces are stylistically "Modern or Abstract". However, his architectural designs are done on a custom commission basis, and by nature of diversity, can encompass an infinite variety of styles, from traditional to contemporary. All of his work is produced in his studio by his own two hands. Barry's preoccupation with quality, beauty, craftsmanship, and originality are his hallmarks.

Charles Frizzell - Featured in Colorado Gallery

A Kentucky native, Charles Frizzell has been creating artwork all his life. After graduating in 1967 from Murray State University in Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fine Arts, he headed west, settling in Colorado in 1969.

From the mid to late 1980's, Charles' primary media has become acrylics. He also works with oils, watercolors, graphite, pen & ink, and lithography. His landscapes reflect his love of and concern for the earth, as well as, the changes brought about by mankind. His Native American mystical paintings and fantasy artworks have been collected worldwide.

His work is exhibited extensively both regionally and nationally. Charles' art is included in the permanent collections of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the Sangre de Christo Art Center in Pueblo, CO. He's been included in the top 100 of the prestigious Arts for Parks exhibitions, winning a bronze medal once and being selected as a poster artist another time. His acceptance into "Spectrum 7", 2000 marked his first internationally juried show and he was again selected into "Spectrum 11".

In 2008, Charles Frizzel's painting of the Great Sand Dunes National Park landed him in the top 100 of the Paint the Parks National Exhibition. The following year his painting of Pikes Peak beaver ponds put him in the top 50 of the Mini category of the Paint America competition. This year, Charles is a finalist in another international competition, the Salon 2012-13 of the Art Renewal Center. His entry was a still life of a 1954 Hudson front end shown and sold here at Michael's. His recent mural painting can be seen in the Fremont County Center for the Arts, along with the six other mural artists.

Charles' art has been published widely on CD's, book covers, greeting cards, collector plates, posters, and fine art prints, as well as, giclee prints.

Michael J. Gould - Featured in Colorado & Florida Galleries

Michael is the namesake for Michael's on Main. His mesmerizing landscape images and the composition of his photography demonstrate his technical versatility and artistic creativity to capture the surreal spontaneity of nature. His keen eye, captures the ordinary miracles in our environment that we fail to notice in our hurried Early childhood health conditions and a tumultuous upbringing played a large role in the development of an acute awareness of his environment. His early career in law enforcement brought a continual emotional bombardment by the very dark side of humanity and the painful experiences that so often overwhelm us throughout the course of our life.

While working in the Sheriff's office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was accepted in the position as a Crime Scene photographer. While working as a crime scene photographer, it was essential to master the extreme technicality and precise positioning required for manual photography (long before any digital automatic cameras). With the specific training of this position, I had to capture every nuance, angle and dimension of evidence in extremely poor lighting conditions, often nighttime settings with poor light and rain or snow on black asphalt. This early training provided the foundation for him to capture images spontaneously in poor conditions.

Michael never considered himself as an artist. Photography was an escape, an effort to find peace and to replace the dark images of his earlier years. he found solace in capturing the serenity and magnificence of the natural beauty that surrounds us in our world.

My photographs were never previously exhibited. Photography for me has been a very personal experience. It was only after wife shared her emotional connection and pure love of my captured images that I felt others might find an emotional connection to my photos. My private collection has now become public.

Larry C. Haught - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Larry is a graduate of the American Academy of Art in Chicago where he specialized in advertising art. He also has a BA from Eastern Illinois University.

He worked in a small advertising agency in Chicago for two years before entering a career in federal civil service. He recently retired with over 38 years of providing management of graphics, photography, video production, presentation services and video teleconferencing for various Air Force installations.

Always having a love for watercolor painting, he decided to make a serious attempt at this difficult media., He has attended work shops with Martha Mans, Eric Weingardt, Stephen Quiller, David Drummond, Tom Owens, Mark Mehaffey and Ted Nuttel.

Larry is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, the Colorado Watercolor Society, the Kansas Watercolor Society, and the Pikes Peak Watercolor Society. His paintings can be found in homes and businesses around the United States and in Europe.

Charles Corey Hendershott - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Born in Louisiana to displaced natives of Brooklyn, but raised and schooled in Colorado and have lived extensively in California, Newfoundland and New York City. In 2007, He moved to Canon City Colorado from Brooklyn where he set up a studio and has been integrating into the Colorado art community. He is an active member of The Board of Directors of The Fremont Center for the Arts and also showing his work at Michael's on Main art gallery here in Canon City.

Art came naturally, from crayon obsessive to paint by numbers, an insistent doodler and drawer. Sources of early inspiration were from the art talented of his associates, his imagination, the blatant and over-the-top Surrealists and then, later, the work of the masters both modern and classical. His work is based on classical academic oil painting technique and pallet using drawing, under painting, colorization through glaze and varnishing. The process is methodical and time consuming. Working interests have moved more and more to space, depth and simplicity. He seeks a holistic uniformity and a spatial harmony in all his work and allows the work itself to find its own solutions and closure after a beginning of preliminary conceptual sketches and design layout.

Elaine King - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Elaine is a native of Idaho, currently residing in Canon City, CO. She has set her hand to many different art forms throughout her life. She has authored two books, managed a floral shop and also built houses. She dabbles in oil painting, sketching, photography, and leather tooling. Also an avid sportswoman and hunter, her desire for earrings, crafted from the ivories of her first bull elk, brought her to jewelry designing. That venture led to a passion for creating wearable art designs, which incorporate visuals of her varied outdoor interests.

Works of Art from Elements of Nature

Metals, Gems, Strings, Sticks & Stones

Animal Claws, Teeth, Leather & Bones

Barbara Smith & JC Maxon - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

The husband and wife team of JC Maxon and Barbara Smith have exhibited and won awards at a number of galleries and shows in the Southwest.

An archeologist by profession, Jim has used his education and artistic talents to pursue watercolors and pastels. He prefers landscapes, cityscapes and trains, and enjoys working on location as he thinks that the pleine air painting enhances the freshness and spontaneity of the art. Jim owned and operated the Alma Fine Art Gallery in Alma, Colorado before he moved to Southern Colorado.

Historically, Barbara's interests have been fibers and fabrics with a special passion for antique linens and laces. Barbara believes that antique linens have the "heart and soul" of the past.

JC and Barbara joined their artistic talents when they married in 2007 and are working with traditional, vintage and contemporary cameras to produce silver gelatin black and white photographs and ink jet prints. Some of the photographs are hand tinted with photo oils in the style of old pictures and are reminiscent of historical photos. Their work is truly collaborative. They both make the images, share in the processing, final composition, printing, matting and framing. Often an image made by one is tinted by the other. They prefer to record the world around them with traditional photographic methods for the distinctive look that techniques give their work.

Ken McGowan - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Ken is a fourth generation native of Leadville, Colorado. He received a BA degree in Fine Art Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a MA degree in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado.

Ken has taught for more than thirty years. He is currently teaching art at Mountain View Core Knowledge School in Canon City, Colorado. Many of his former students have pursued art careers, including graphic arts and art education.

Art has always been a central focus in Ken's life. He enjoys painting and drawing, gives individual lessons, and does murals and commissions. Watercolor, acrylic, pastel and colored pencil are Ken's primary focus.

Ken strives to represent images in a refined, symbolic, surrealistic or realistic way, often with the use of borders to create unity. Ken views each painting as a challenge and an opportunity to learn and grow as an artist.

Kathy McGregor - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

Kathy McGregor is a Colorado native who grew up in Denver. After living in Littleton for many years and then Florissant, she moved to Canon City. She has always loved working with beads, semi precious stones & most recently fused Dichroic glass. Many of her skills are self taught and she has learned much by trial & error as well as taking classes to further her skills. In addition to working with Dichroic glass, Kathy has also taught herself wire wrapping, many forms of beadwork such as peyote stitch, loomwork, applique, and the lost art of braiding horse hair which she weaves into bracelets.

She practices Hatha and Kundalini yoga & completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training certification in 2008. She has been teaching yoga for the last 3 years here in Canon City and is passionate about helping people to learn yoga because she knows it can change their lives. She is active with Renee's Friends Fund, a group of people who raise money to assist breast cancer patients throughout Colorado with normal living expenses as they obtain the treatment and therapies necessary to fight breast cancer. Two years ago, Kathy was instrumental in organizing a booth at the Farmers Market to promote the nonprofit fund and, along with her friends, helpedsell their products and also donated a portion of her jewelry sales to the fund. She continues to take the RFF booth to fund raisers and events to further help in this cause. Kathy enjoys riding the mountain trails & practicing Dressage on her horse, hiking, biking and walking her dog on the River Walk. She loves to travel and has been fortunate enough to visit 14 countries.

Although Kathy has done many of the art shows throughout the state in the last several years including Blossom Days, Evergreen Art Festival & Woodland Park art shows, she now prefers to exhibit her work in shops and galleries. She receives great pleasure in giving many of her pieces as gifts to family & friends as well as for fund raisers. Each creation is unique and one of a kind. She is honored to be a part of this new community and looks forward to the great success for all who are involved in Michael's on Main Street .

GL Miller - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

Carol Losinski Naylor - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

Carol Losinski Naylor has been in touch with her artist senses since that of which she can remember. However, painting as a profession did not come to fruition until roughly 3 years ago. Through art workshops and understudy with locally and internationally known artists, Carol has honed her artistic skills.

She enjoys using watercolor, acrylic, oil and wood to help her paintings come to life. Inspiration is found in her surroundings of where she lives, Colorado for which she always feels to be the best resource. In 2009, Carol was awarded 1st Place at the Tri-Lakes Member Show and 2nd Place at the Colorado Springs Art Guild.

Mattie O. - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

For a previously practicing environmental attorney, off-shore oil drilling engineer, gun cleaner for an Israeli army, Vail bar owner, ski bum and single mom, Mattie O. helps to coin one of her favorite quotes from Helen Keller, "Life is an adventure or nothing." Brought up by a fantastically eccentric and artistic mother, Mattio O. planned to follow directly in her mother's footsteps until her mother succumbed to illness resulting in Mattie's refusal of participation in any form of creativity and art.

Going through a state of self-realization at the age of 45, Mattie O. found that various creations of art could help people to form emotional connections and open their visional capabilities by seeing multiple dimensions within one object or image. In using watercolors, acrylics and scratchboard to paint items that she loves (machinery, bikes, family, friends, flowers, animals, landscapes), she exercises both sides of her brain allowing basic ideas or pictures to be morphed into boldly dramatic and vividly dream-like images. Mattie's newfound passion transforms realistic and rational items into unsurreal unthinkable works of art simply through her uncanny abilities to enrich and enhance.

In 2006, at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts Member Show, Mattie O. took 3rd Place for her submission of "Madonna." In 2007, her "Iris Twins" was selected as the Juror's Choice at the Colorado State Fair. In 2008, Mattie O.'s "Tree Portrait No. 1" won 2nd Place at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts Member Show. Retired as an attorney, Mattie O. currently paints full-time at her studio, Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts, which is located in Palmer Lake, CO. By way of accident, Mattie has also added Pet Portraits, which bring her such fun and happiness that she is personally commissioned by her clients to paint.

Rayann Orr - Featured in Colorado & Florida Galleries

A native to Pueblo, Colorado, Rayann Orr, was one of six children. She credits her grandmother for her artistic eye and technique as it was she that helped show her the beginnings of artistry. While experimenting with different medias and traveling around the western, northwestern and southwestern states, she discovered her passion for painting simplistic Southwestern structures and unique landscapes.

Rayann has enjoyed the use of watercolors and has since expanded her skill set to include printmaking. In perfecting both of these, she uniquely began a new style by intensifying her monotypes of watercolor with lithographic inks of printmaking. Rayann's work is exhibited in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. In 2005, The Southern Colorado W/C Society Spring Show presented her with a Juror Award. In 2007, Rayann placed first and second at the Beulah Fine Art Show. Currently, Rayann and her husband reside in Pueblo, CO where she owns and works at her studio.

Anne Owens - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Anne Owens' love for nature is vividly expressed in her pastel and oil paintings. She enjoys working on location in an effort to capture the fleeting effects of light, which is one of the most critical elements of her work.

Anne had no plans for college, as her parents could not afford tuition. She was working as a waitress when a call from her high school principal changed her life. He drove her to a local college, where he helped her obtain a federal loan, which was available for students who agreed to enter the teaching profession. Having had no plans to become a teacher, she had no idea what she might want to teach. Although her high school had not offered art classes, she loved to draw and chose to major in art. Anne received a Bachelors degree in Art Education from Ohio State University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Denver. After receiving her degrees, she dedicated the following 20 years teaching art at various public schools, community colleges and then at the University of Denver.

During the late 60's and 70's, while earning her degrees, the teaching of art varied drastically from school to school, university to university and so on. It was always, "Art for art's sake without the need for subject matter was the new wave of artistry," and, "Representational art and their artists (Andrew Wyeth or Norman Rockwell) were considered unacceptable or as jokes." Instead, abstract or non-objective art such as abstract expressionism, or hard edge painting, where there was no recognizable subject matter was acceptable. Her education included no instruction in technique, no study of color theory, and no drawing from life, other than the human figure. This did little to advance her own growth as an artist. As a result, she recently abandoned abstract art and has since embraced a more realistic approach, which she finds more enjoyable and challenging. At some point, her work may return to abstract principles; however, she has vowed not to practice unless she herself feels strong in her foundation of it.

Jeanene V. Parker - Featured in Colorado Gallery

From her childhood on a cattle ranch in Eastern Colorado, to her travels throughout North America & Europe & Hawaii Jeanene has inspired to paint a wide variety of subject matter. She is primarily a landscape painter & has developed a unique, photo-impressionistic style working mostly in oils. Jeanene's landscapes tend to be a nostalgic, peaceful view of the world. The awesome strength & majesty of God's earth & sky is an undercurrent in her paintings. There is the feeling that there is more to be seen than first meets the eye. She loves the outdoors & considers herself highly privileged to be living & painting at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo range. Parker's original oil painting entitled "A Bit of Aviation History" is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Jeanene has participated in many one-person shows & gallery exhibits in Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico & Louisiana, & has won numerous awards. She was asked to show in the "Celebration of Women Art Exhibit" & "The Best of the Sangre de Cristos" show in Pueblo. She has also participated for many years in the San Isabel Foundation's "Art for the Sangres" show in Westcliffe. Jeanene obtained a BFA degree in painting & sculpture from Tulane University. She lives & enjoys painting on her Colorado ranch in Westcliffe, along with her husband & one of their three children.

Ann Sears - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Ann began making jewelry while in high school after she won a scholarship to an art camp where she took jewelry and fell in love with it. She decided that was what she wanted to take in college as well. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in jewelry and silversmithing.

Ann's love is to design one-of-a-kind pieces around a particular stone. She works mostly in sterling silver using fabrication methods, rather than casting. She enjoys incorporating wire with flat silver using forging, hammering and reticulation methods. She uses precious and semi-precious stones. Some of her pieces have a Native Indian flair, and some are very contemporary. She also does jewelry repairs and works on commission. She has won several awards for her work.

Ann's signature piece has become "Angels with an Attitude." Everyone she makes is different, and she has made over 900 of them.

She teaches jewelry-making classes and bead stringing, as well as painting and watercolor. She really loves teaching because she can get inspired from her students.

She presently owns Ann's Art Annex located at 105 W. Main Street in Florence. That is where she teaches classes and where more of her work is on display.

Mary Shell - Featured in both Colorado and Florida Galleries

Mary has been an artist all her life and she doesn't think she can separate life from art. She is thankful for the full scholarships she received throughout her training. She considers her work to be unusual and at times a bit edgy, which is necessary to interpret life. She is constantly evolving, as is her art work. She is looking forward to working in metal as well as continuing to work in 2 and 3D art. She will continue to seek out galleries to show her work and will continue her community involvement to make art available to all children and adults.

Kristina Storey - Featured in Florida Gallery

Kristina's colorful florals and landscapes reflect her love of nature while her still lives combine luminous color with strong light and intricate detail. In watercolor, she finds a medium that not only releases freedom and spontaneity but also shines forth with brilliant translucent color.

The First Friday Artwalk tour is an exciting event - see her work at Michael's on Main. She also shows through exhibits sponsored by Watercolor Societies and Art Guilds in the Colorado Rocky Mountain region.

Studying under master artist Semyon Bilmes at Ashland Academy of Art, her skills soared to a new level. Her love for watercolor was rekindled and she has been painting ever since.

A boomer, Kristina was born in 1954 and raised in sunny Southern California, but has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, living 10 years in Thailand. She now calls Colorado Springs, CO her home, but on cold winter days she longs for the warm balmy breezes of the tropics.

Glenda Vollmecke - Featured in Colorado Gallery

Originally from England, at 15 years of age, Glenda won a coveted scholarship and attended art school with John Lennon (who was 20 at the time). She and her friends worked at the Tower ballroom, just across from Liverpool, so she frequently associated with the "Fab Four." Her small biography on the Beatles can be viewed on the BBC website as well as her own site.

At seventeen her travels took her to London's West End, where she worked as a merchandiser in Oxford Street. A few years later she and her family of three young sons, Steve, Darren and Tony lived in Guam, Spain and Sicily prior to eventually moving back to Colorado in the eighties. Her design work and the military bases overseas wasn't the only occupation. Her Psychic readings (which are still available) occupied much of her spare time. Several years ago she wrote weekly columns for five various newspapers, the main one being for the Colony Reporter in Guadalajara, Mexico. Each year her work is accepted into the Fine Arts Gallery for Colorado State Fair, and two years ago the hotel Armistad in Costa Rica bought five of her animal paintings for their foyer. Among her unique style of art projects are feather painting. Look for the animal face that has a one point genuine diamond in the eye. Currently she's busy writing her fascinating autobiography which includes her post WWII childhood and her early association with the Beatles. Glan and her husband John welcome visitors to their alpaca farm new the Royal Gorge in Colorado

Phyllis Waltman - Featured in Florida & Colorado Galleries

Native Coloradoan, Phyllis Waltman, was born on a small ranch on the rugged Western Slope near Delta, CO. Phyllis has been totally absorbed with horses her whole life. Early on, she was both drawing and riding horses; no paper dolls for her! Waltman began working earnestly in the art world using pencil; later venturing into the world of color using acrylic, always focusing on the horse. With precise yet sensitive detail, she captures the expressiveness of these magnificent creatures as well as the semi-arid climate of Colorado, including it's Western Slope. Viewers are struck by the dry light that illuminates her scenes and surrounds her subjects.

Her work has appeared in shows across the country including the Churchill Downs Museum (home of the Kentucky Derby) and has received numerous awards throughout the region.

In addition, Waltman's art has been the subject of articles in Equine Images, The Artist's Magazine (U. S. and Italian editions), Western Horseman, and Equine Art News. Her work was featured in Equine Vision June 2003 issue and has graced the cover for several years of the Denver Polo Club Annual magazine as well as issues of Horses West. Most recently her work was featured in the 2006 fall issue of 'Horses in Art'.

Waltman's acrylic painting "In a Crowded Place" was chosen by Ohio-based Equine Affaire as its featured artwork for the 2004 season. The association used the painting in all of Equine Affaire's promotional materials including its program covers, t-shirts and posters related to events in Pomona, California, Columbus, Ohio and Springfield, Massachusetts during 2004. Equine Affaire is billed as the nation's premiere national equine exposition and equestrian gathering with a show in Columbus drawing over 100,000 people.

Grace Wever - Featured in Colorado & Florida Galleries

Grace Harbin Wever is a self-taught mixed media artist whose studio and home are near Westcliffe, Colorado. Her collages incorporate brilliantly-colored layers of silk, hand-dyed cotton, metallic and synthetic fabrics, paper and thread. Iridescence and transparency bring additional light and airiness to her work, while stitching embellishes the design and adds texture and three-dimensionality. Most of her works are mounted, glazed and framed. Grace's works are both abstract and representational; the latter include mountain-, desert- and seascapes. Spiritual themes are also depicted in two recent collections. "On Wings of the Wind" is a 13-part series illustrating poetry from King David's Song of Deliverance from Second Samuel. A second series, "Wild Rivers from Barren Heights," is based on a verse from Isaiah.

Galleries representing her work in Colorado have included Gallery Two-Ten in Colorado Springs, Gallery 150 in Salida, the Paint Horse Gallery in Breckenridge, the Trembling Aspen Gallery in Buena Vista, and the Third Street Gallery in Westcliffe, CO. Her work is found in private collections throughout the US, and at institutions including Exempla Medical Center in Lafayette, the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes at the Anschutz Medical Center in Denver, and Alabama Psychological Services. She is a past president and Board member of the Arkansas Valley Art Center at Colorado Mountain College.

Prior to her retirement to the world of art, Grace worked in science, business and public policy. She earned a Ph.D. from Temple University, and was a research fellow at Baylor Medical and at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She was a research faculty member at the Institute of Optics, a manager and lab director at Eastman Kodak, and a senior manager with KPMG Peat Marwick. Wever chaired the Department of Commerce's National Sea Grant Panel, which advises NOAA on coastal and marine research.

Grace was a founder and the first president of the Council of Great Lakes Industries, a binational public policy organization. Her book, "Strategic Environmental Management," published by John Wiley & Sons, has received international recognition. Grace also earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She is married to Albrecht Wever, a physicist, engineer and innovator.

Anthony Armigo - Featured in Colorado and Florida Galleries

Anthony Armigo pursues an area of art that is often neglected by modern artists. The art of portraits is precise and non-forgiving in comparison with the abstract art that currently fills galleries across the country. Armijo's talent has developed during his life to give him the tools necessary to excel in this area. The fine details of the faces and subjects come to life when combined with his unique style of colored background settings.

Over the years, Armijo's talent has evolved to an ability to capture not only a visual likeness, but also the character of a subject. Having been raised in west coast of Monterey, California and in the southwest Pueblo, Colorado, Armijo has had a lifetime of exposure to various subjects, which gives him an insight that is displayed on canvas in his unique art style.

Combining the age old technique of line art with the latest in layered oils, Armijo brings alive his various subjects in a style all of his own.

Violetta Chandler- Featured in Florida Gallery

Violetta Chandler, a fifth generation artist, was born near Odessa, Ukraine. Her first lessons in art were taught by her father, Yakov Tsatskin, artist and teacher, when she was just 4 years old. By the age of 14, Violetta graduated from Junio School of Art and at the age of 18, she completed her Diploma with distinction from Repin State College of Art. In 1992, she received her Master's Degree in Fine Arts from Odessa State Institution in Ukraine. Violetta's artwork is internationally renown and is collected worldwide.

"Violetta paints in the impressionistic style. Her canvases are filled with magnificent light and atmospheric effects. Like Monet, she changes canvases as the light changes. In the spirit of a true impressionist, Violetta has captured that fast moment of light when the sun brilliantly illuminates the setting." (Ann Shamas, St. Pete News)

Francis Dodd- Featured in Colorado & Florida Galleries

As an artist, Francis Dodd finds delight in painting the figure and street scenes in her two favorite mediums, either oils or pastels. To her, the range of texture, color and adaptability of oils is almost limitless. I can be maneuvered from a thin transparent wash to a rich, thick opacity. Pastels, a dry medium, are an exciting for their immediacy, freshness and sparkle. The colors are intense and vibrant, and are available in a vast selection.

In painting figures, she looks for poses that show them engaged in an activity that is unique to the model, keeping her strokes loose and free helping to convey their movement, emotion, and inner energy.

Painting en plein air is a special joy to Dodd in that there is no experience quite like being out in nature, being one with it. She is not tempted to become too literal in her interpretation of it nor paint its essence with the overabundance of details.

Dodd has been called a colorist and her paintings are easily identifiable by her use of vibrant color and strong darks and lights. She loves the simple act of pushing the paint or pastel around the surface developing lush color relationships and dramatic values.

Marie Therese Lacroix - Featured in Florida Gallery

Born in the Eastern Townships (Magog, Quebec), the youngest daughter of a family of fourteen children, she decided later in life to make Montreal her home.

In 1997, she found a new passion and enrolled in an art class given by the renown Frere Jerome Paradis. This is where Lacroix developed her own artistic style, while spending four years in his studio "La Partance," at the College Notre Dame in Montreal.

In 1995, Lacroix moved to Philadelphia as a magazine publishing executive. While working, she studied parttime at the University of Pennsylvania Art Faculty where she further improved her brushwork and favorite medium, acrylic.

Lacroix is recognizable by her vibrant display of colors, exuberant flowers, and humorous personas. On the canvas, she expresses her sensibility for people and her love for nature.

Personal Statement, "As an epressionist artist, it is my desire that admirers of my art are satisfied with their acquisitions and their personalities bond with my artwork. Life without love is a lost life."

Nicholas Moffett - Featured in Florida & Colorado Galleries

Nicholas Moffett's vision of sculpting began with a Master's thesis entitled, "A Juxtaposition of Dissimilar Media Expressing a Human Condition." That vision continues today with variation, but nonetheless, still exemplifies those human conditions. Although, not exclusively limited to the human figure, it continues to be his subject of choice. His sculptures depict multiple emotions; the figures maintain an expression of inner power. It is extremely important that each sculpture exhibits the beauty that specifically deals with the aesthetics of fine art.

His style often borrows Native American trappings to enhance and give balance to sculptures. To create proper aesthetic and correct compositional, design principles must be used. His final statement with a sculpture must incorporate the physical beauty of the human form with all of the correct design components for the piece to be successful.

His sculptures often tell a story and aim to enchance the imagination and many are multifaceted and can be seen as both simple and complex at the same time. They are designed to enchance one's interest at any angle. The use of masks and fragmentation depict his vision of the world and that many of our everyday occurrences make for a metaphorically fragmented existence. The collector will quickly notice that some of his sculptures of exotic femal faces wear masks of many designs. He believes most all people hide behind masks; if not in a physcial sense at least in a symbolic way.

His sculptures are created with a standard of excellence praised by some of most prestigious galleries and discerning collectors in the world.

Don Plumridge - Featured in Florida Gallery

From an early age, Don Plumridge expressed artistic talents through professional photography, stage and set design, acting, sculpting, writing and of course, oil painting. After several years of formal art and design education in Canada, his homeland, he has spent his life in the creative world.

The following ten years in the television industry, Don founded and was CEO of his own advertising agency and graphic design studio in metro Washington, D.C. area. Functioning as its creative head, he wrote, produced, and directed countless radio and television commercials worthy of two CLIO awards. As an art director, he created several award-winning advertising print campaigns.

Oil painting has always been his singular passion and personal creative focus. From his own photography and professional eye for composition and color harmonies, he creates canvases of surprising varied images. Although subjects may favor water, boats, landscapes and florals, the artist varies technique, coloring and brush work to accommodate the mood and pictoral impact.

Frank Seckler - Featured in Florida Gallery

For over two decades, Frank Seckler has been creating unique metal art. He has concentrated on developing patinas that bring warmth and texture to his steel pieces. Frank has successfully married his love of color and the design process to bring you art that is not only beautiful, but functional as well.

Seckler initially attended the Rhode Island School of Design before finishing his degree in fine arts at Lewis and Clark College. His schooling provided a solid foundation in printmaking and painting, which has been a major influence in his patina development.

Seckler's work is well noted for its craftsmanship, metal finishes, and distinctive symbols based on Southwest petroglyph and South American primitive figures along with other designs. Seckler's art has been collected extensively throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

Anthony Stokes - Featured in Florida Gallery

Anthony Stokes has been practicing his art for as long as he can remember. His work was developed through the last decade as he faced personal and monumental challenges through which he believes the true expression of his art was developed.

He is strongly influenced by artists and their art, which he has deep appreciation for. He emulates their style often in his own work as a tribute to his. He is currently studying at the Southern Atelier School of Art.

Jason Zee - Featured in Florida Gallery

Emerging artist, Jason Zee, is a self taught artist born and raised in Sarasota. He utilizes acrylic paint and spray paint in his original abstract paintings. It is obvious to the viewer that he is strongly influenced by the Abstract Expressionist Movement.

Personal Statement, "Currently, I take my artistic side to create something extraordinary utilizing different shapes to create depth and shapes."

Audrey Gray - Featured in Florida Gallery

Audrey Gray was born in Denver, Colorado to parents who spent their time creating pottery, stained glass, and quilts. Their art world encouraged her to be creative and she went on to graduate from Southwestern University with a major in Art in 2000. She started using natural materials in her last year of college. She uses acrylic to bind her materials to panels and canvases. Dirt and clay provide color. Nature provides nearly every hue. Other materials include gypsum sand, purple-hued granite sand, fine beach sand, green dirt, sticks, seeds, mica and other rocks. She gathers materials from places throughout the Southwestern United States.

Gary W. Odmark - Featured in Florida Gallery

Gary W. Odmark is a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design in Fine Arts Illustration. For over 40 years, Odmark has been painting as a freelance artist. Fifteen years ago, Odmark completed his first limited edition print, "Seasons End." Since then, he has printed more than 90 paintings, attracting the attention of individual and corporate art collectors all over the Mid-West.

Odmark is becoming well-known throughout the Great Lakes Region with growing interest in Florida. He attends numerous art shows and boat shows in these areas. Odmark has over 100 different prints on the market, mostly in nautical and historical art. Some of Odmark's originals are still available by request. After painting for over 40 years, Odmark's originals and prints have grown in popularity. Commission paintings are also available in both watercolor and oil.

Carol Bolt - Featured in Florida Gallery

Carol Bolt is a multi-disciplinary artist with a history of incorporating words, drawings, and interactive elements into her two-dimensional and sculptural work. Her work is informed by a strong interest in mainstream cultural objects and imagery; creating mass through reptition and accessibility through humor are predominant aspects of her work. Her work has been widely exhibited at locations including Philadelphia, Seattle and Los Angeles. Her work is included in public and private collections; her public sculptural installation, "No Appointment Necessary," was recently accessioned into the Seattle Arts Commission collection. She holds a Bachlor of Fine Arts from the University of Delaware and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington.

Patrick J. Reynolds - Featured in FL Gallery

Personal Statement:

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, I realized the value in fine art. As a young boy, I was exposed to the best of the best that the art world celebrated. Because of this, I learned how to paint feelings on canvas, something that cannot be spoken or gestured in words, but pure feelings. Emotion came after I matured as an artist, the intensity of a piece can only be felt by the emotion in which it was executed. This was a creed that I lived for many years.

Today, I have pushed the envelope of art in a direction that has not been explored. The works that I complete now speak from years of observation and learning about the human spirit. Every nuance and subtle change in who we are affects everything else just as the subtle changes in colors on my canvas. Exploring the rhythm and intensity of each work brings me to new heights as an artist, utilizing oil pastel and boiled linseed oil, I have been able to push the limits of form and color. I hope that it is transferred from my canvas to the viewer with the same intentions and power that was poured into each of these pieces.

Dante Ferraro - Featured in Florida Gallery

I was born in New Jersey to an art teacher mother who began teaching me at the very young age of two. I moved to Florida in 2992 and after high school, I worked with local artists learning new skills and tecniques. For around 17 years, I worked in retail as a general manager, doing my art on the side and displayed my work in a gallery in Englewood, Florida. I have done many commissioned works for clients, murals for businesses, and schools. I have also donated many paintings for charity auctions to raise money for special needs children. Aside from painting, I sculpt, carve, and create with anything that inspires me.

June Elizabeth Fluegel -

Featured in Florida Gallery

Born and raised in England, I spent many years in the creative departments of TV and advertising companies in London. I also worked in the travel business in Corfu and Crete while spending time with family in the south of France, where I eventually lived for a number of years. Previous to meeting my American husband, I worked in the tennis industry both in the US and England before finally settling in Sarasota, Florida.

I started painting with acrylics and in moving to North Carolina in 2008, where I took classes from Mary Setzer at the Mooresville Art Guild in which I learned more about the values and composition. I was then lucky enough to be invited to join the Daveste Vineyard Artist. With this group, I learned the joys of water colour and we put on a number of shows at the Daveste tasting room/gallery. In addition, I also displayed my work at Cafe 100, who sold a number of my paintings. I also took workshops and classes with Sterling Edwards and Carol Ann Whitmore and was apart of the Huntersville Art Group.

In 2012, I began experimenting with water based oils and studied with Elie Bou Zeidan in Davidson, who has inspired and taught me a great deal about the use of colour, light and movement. With his expert tuition; oils have become my favorite medium. I enjoy the buttery consistency of the paint as well as the pure fun of using them.

I returned to Sarasota permanently in 2014. My inspiration continues to come from the light Provence, the sunsets in Sarasota and the vibrant colors around this ever evolving coast.